Sunday, March 3, 2013

Rise of the Guardians Review

Hello. So I just watched Rise of the Guardians yesterday... and I wanna talk about it.
Disclaimer: I don't know everything about it and might be saying something wrong. But here it is!





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RISE OF THE GUARDIANS TRAILER



I just wanna add this photo to show Jack Frost's looks influence lol
"Jack Frost: 90% of the people planning to watch Rise of The Guardians are going because of him"
This came up before the movie was shown btw

"Rise of the Guardians" is a 2012 American 3D animated film based on William Joyce's "The Guardians of Childhood" book series and "The Man in the Moon" short film by Joyce and Reel FX. The director of the film was Peter Ramsey, while Joyce and Guillermo del Toro were executive producers. It was produced by DreamWorks Animation and distibuted by Paramound Pictures. The film has been released on November 21, 2012.

The film is set about 200 years after the book series. It features the voices of Chris Pine (Jack Frost), Alec Baldwin (Santa Claus), High Jackman (The Easter Bunny), Isla Fisher (The Tooth Fairy), and Jude Law (Pitch). 

So, a lot of people who watched the film compare it to "The Avengers". It is kinda similar. The guardians of children are like the characters in the avengers while the antagonists: Pitch and Loki are very much alike. So instead of protecting the people and being the world's saviors, the guardians are protecting the children of the world.


THEMES/ QUESTIONS/ OTHER INFORMATIONS:

Children's dreams are very very important - The guardians job, of course, is to protect the children of the world. Each guardians have their own powers, workloads, and deadlines. Each of them are willing to lay their lives for the kids. So, the guardians' jobs are to be taken seriously. There is even a ritual/ ceremony where the new guardian (Jack Frost) should take an oath and swear to protect the kids for eternity. The whole film focuses on the fuss of protecting the children's hope, wonder, and dreams. Of course, the antagonist is pitch/ boogey man who is also fear. He, of course, destroys the things mentioned above. So, from plot to characters, this theme is the most important. The film wants to empower the fears of the children by personifying him, saying that he is the bad guy. Don't let him empower you.

Fun Vs Fear - This theme is based on the protagonist vs antagonist battle. We all know that Jack's center is fun while Pitch's center is fear. This really makes sense and I find this theme very wonderful. Think about it. How should you fight fear? What should you do whenever you are scared? Answer is: Have fun! Whenever a person is having fun, there is no space for fear. Similarly, when a person is experiencing fear, he can't experience fun. You can't have them at the same time. (This is what I think so, correct me if I'm wrong). So this theme is really something. Don't let fear overcome you, fight it with fun. The movie also portrayed this explicitly. The flashback clearly shows it when the living Jack Frost (before he became Jack Frost) tries to save his sister. He goes on saying "Let's have fun and play a game of hopscotch" or something like that.

Why are the guardians not the image we expected? - Now this is a question asked since we watched the trailer. I don't think Jack Frost is included here though (since he is not really famous enough so that we can expect a certain kind of look anyway hihi). Santa Claus is usually a nice, fat, and jolly old person; while in the film he is a buff, tattoo-filled, Russian-accented person. Easter bunny is usually portrayed as a cute bunny (with a basket); while in the film he is one big, tall, and scary bunny who looks like he's about to kill you (plus, he's holding a boomerang). Tooth-fairy usually looks like a pretty fairy; not a mosquito looking girl (but I guess it could work). I can't comment on sandman though (his look isn't that popular either I think). My point is: they aren't so cute and friendly like we expected. They look like gangsters! So why is this? I have a few guesses. 1) This could add to their guardian look. Maybe the film is saying that they should look tough to protect the children because there is enemy. It's not like they are always jolly and friendly. They need to look like they are in for a war to protect the precious. 2) North suggests that we are like nesting dolls. Different aspects of our personality make up the outer layers (which explains their unexpected looks) but its the core that matters.

Why did they make the big 4 ignorant in spending time with children? - In the movie, Tooth was trying to make a girl happy and said "Look at all the lovely little teeth, with bits of gum and blood on them!" (lol). Jack Frosts said that they don't know how to interact with kids. It's because the big 4 are so busy making preparations for the children that they haven't spent time with them. North says "We are very busy bringing joy to children. We don't have time... [awkward pause] for children" (lol again). Anyways, the film is making an emphasis on the theme: spend time > making preparations. Yup, spending time (just like what Jack Frost does) makes him knowledgeable about children than the big 4 who are supposed to be the ones closer to the children. So this refutes our usual knowledge that the big 4 should be the ones closer to the children (this is how it often goes). But in this movie, it contradicts that by portraying that they don't know how to have fun with kids.

Why is the moon calling? - This was my question before I searched for the answer. It is actually from the book where the film is based. So according to Wikipedia: Tsar Luna, known as the Man in the Moon or simply "MiM", was the very first Guardian who lived on the moon and protected the dreams of all children. Period.

Why is Sandman/ Dream super powerful? - Although Dream is mute and calm, he is the most powerful guardian in the movie. In fact, Pitch decided to strike him first. He was also the one who fought great in the film (with special entrance 'coz we all thought he died). This is because Sandman sends children dreams that help their wished come true. Because wishes always begin with dreams. So the pleasant dreams Sandy provides for children helps them continue to have faith in the guardians. (Wiki).

It is important to believe - Throughout the film it is shown that the characters panic and lose their powers and strength when children start to disbelieve in them. This is pretty usual in holiday films. In the film "Elf", Santa's sleigh could not fly because of the lack of Christmas spirit. There are a lot of stuffs like cheers that are important too. The film though (a little disappointed in this), is kinda limited to that kind of theme. At first, I thought it has a greater theme than believing in holiday characters but, I guess it's just stuck to that. It doesn't have greater themes such as believe in yourself, believe in others. (Correct me if I'm wrong. If there is a theme like that, that's not the main focus). So yeah, it just says: Believe in the mythical characters because they are real. Too shallow though (and too childish). This very big theme (so big that it's super focused) contributed to why the "Rise of the Guardians" is seen as super childish.

Sandy vs. Pitch - Just an additional information I got from Wiki: Sandy and Pitch are polar opposites and likely even each other's foil character:
1) Sandy is short and round; Pitch is tall and lean
2) Sandy is bright and appealing; Pitch is dark and foreboding
3) Sandy creates pleasant dreams; Pitch creates nightmares

Importance of knowing the past - So Jack Frost knew his center, who he is, and why he is a guardian (basically all his questions are answered) when he found his teeth and had flashbacks of his memories. Before that, he was a super confused person not knowing what his goes in life is. He just makes fun of people, have a little fun for himself, does reckless things and et cetera. He became a little more responsible when he knew about his past.

If Jack was once human, how about his friends like Easter Bunny? - This was once our question. But here's the answer from wiki again: "Jack is the only guardian to die before becoming a guardian/immortal. North, Bunnymund, Tooth and Sandy were chosen by MiM but they never experienced death." <-- So, that explains it. (I just dunno why though but there)

NEGATIVES:

Encouraging children to believe in mythical characters - Of course this is a children's show. However, it's so shallow that it's quite disappointing. As stated above, I expected themes like: Believe in yourself, believe in others/friends. However, the film just focused on believe in mythical creatures coz they are real and they bring joy to you. The little kid: Jamie, proved it because he was such an important character. He was the only kid in the world who still believed in those mythical creatures (haha how childish).

Immediate disbelief??? - I just noticed (and it is evident) that the lights representing the believing kids in their globe turns out in an alarming speed. (Lol). And it is just because there were no pennies for their teeth, there were no eggs to hunt on Easter day, and that they keep having nightmares. I find it a little weird because a question comes to my mind: Don't the children take into consideration the years when their demands are met??? I mean, this just happened for a time only, and now they don't believe. It's just...weird

Insufficient reason to be a guardian - Of course the movie shows that Jack Frost became a guardian with fun as his center because of how he was before he died. He also saved his sister from drowning (with a little fun so that his sister won't get scared). However, that reason is kinda too shallow for him to be worthy to become a guardian. A lot of people might probably do more noble things than what he did. So, yeah, I just find it too shallow.

Edit: Oh and before I end, I was wondering something which the Rise of the Guardians have in common with the cartoon Fairy Odd Parents. In both cartoons, they have guardians who guards kids. The difference is that the Fairy odd parents guard an individual while the guardians in this movie guard kids in general. My question is: Until when will they guard a kid? The kids grow up and eventually they become teen-agers. However, they only guard kids. What will happen? After a kid turns adult they will not include him in the list of guarded children? Don't tell me adults don't need things such as hope, wonder, or what have you. I don't know. Probably I'm missing something. Just sharing my question.

In Conclusion, the "Rise of the Guardians" is a pretty good movie. What made it good? First of all, it has a super nice 3D effect. The animation is really really good. It also gives you a very magical experience. The theme of protecting the children's dreams is also good. Dreams are always important concepts in movies. What made it not-so-good? It's too childish! It revolves around guardians who needs to be believed in because they are real. (Of course all of us don't believe in them).


Rating for the movie:



Rating on Jack Frost himself:



Thank you for reading!~

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